Moby - Live The Hotel Tour

by Sarah Rowland

published: 17 / 3 / 2006

Sarah Johnston examines Moby's new live DVD, which was filmed at at a venue in Belgium and features footage from a tour to promote his recent 'Hotel' album

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Moby has taken a lot of flack over recent years but despite this he plays to a packed out venue in Belgium for his latest DVD which captures the energy of his 'Hotel' tour well. The gig showcases a mix of old and new songs, opening with classic ‘Find My Baby’. The third song is also an old favourite, ‘Natural Blues’ is a crowd pleaser but the live version is slightly disappointing as vocalist, Laura Dawn, performs the original sample track and despite being a fantastic singer just doesn’t have the style of voice to pull it off. Mission of Burma cover, ‘That’s When I Reach For My Revolver’, goes down a storm and Moby thanks the Belgiums for being one of the few countries that seemed to like the 1996 album 'Animal Rights' from which the track is from. Other cover songs include ‘Temptation’ by New Order, Lou Reed's‘Walk on the Wild Side’ by and the Doors' ‘Break On Through ’, the latter of which is sung by guitarist Daron Murphy. While none of these are bad, none really live up to their originals either. ‘Walk On The Wild Side’, however, goes down a storm with the crowd. There is a huge shout of approval for ‘Porcelain’, Moby’s best song to date, and Dawn manages to make ‘Honey’ her own. Overall the DVD is enjoyable and the atmosphere from the gig definitely filters out from the crowd. It is the older songs that, however, seem to be more popular. Moby does seem to be losing his touch with his more recent work. The bonus material includes the encore from the live show and five videos from 'Hotel' which make for good viewing. Also there are two short films, one which shows backstage footage of the world tour and one very strange, but entertaining, piece starring a fish puppet. The amount of bonus material is quite impressive especially when you add in a remix CD featuring 13 tracks from 'Hotel'. This is probably not a DVD for those not already fans of Moby but those who are will be pleased with the live show and wowed by the amount of extras.